Michel descaeds



(N0 Model.)

M. DESGARDS.

OARDING MACHINE.

No. 863,612. Patented May 24, .1887.-

FIGS

Willa esses Mo /M N. FETEH$ Phom-umogn mr. Walhington D a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MICHEL DESGARDS, OF PONT-SAINT-PIERRE, EURE, FRANCE.

CARDING-MAICHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,612, dated May 24, 1887.

Application filed January 15, 1887. Seiial No. 224,4-l3. (N0 model.) Patetteil in France April 6.1886,No. 175,201.

1' 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, MIcHEL DESOARDS, a citizen of France, residing at Pout Saint- Pierre, in the Department of Eure, France, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Garding-Machines,(which has been patented to me in France by Letters Patent No. 175,291, dated April 6, 1886,) of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of the invention is to enable the large carding-cylinder to be perfectly cleaned automatically or by mechanical appliances. The automatic cleaning of the large cylinders of cotton-carding machines has heretofore been practiced; but its efficieney compared with hand-cleaning has heretofore been so small thatits use has been abandoned in large part, the newest and most approved carding-machines, or many of them, being not provided with automatic cleaning apparatus.

It is beyond doubt that a carding-machine in which the clothing of the large cylinder is well cleaned gives a product much superior to that from one working with an imperfectlycleaned cylinder, and there is, therefore, areal advantage in employing automatic cleaning which can be caused to act several times a minute, whereas by hand the cleaning can be performed practically only about four to six times a day, provided, of course, that the mechanical operation removes the film perfectly to the bottom of the card-teeth as can be done by hand. This condition, however, has not been obtained heretofore, because, first, in ordinary card clothing the teeth are very closely set; second, the angular form of the teeth is an obstacle to the removal of the filaments which are engaged by their feet orlower parts, and, third, the teeth, in consequence of the parallelism of the sides of the iron or steel wire from which they are made, whether this be cylindrical, triangular, or rectangular, have the same cross-section from top tobottom. Under these conditions the cotton or other textile material gets into the clothing, packs there, and can only be removed by ahand-operated cleaning card whose teeth penetrate into spaces between the teeth and withdraw the packed material. I overcome these difficulties by replacing upon the large cylinder and between the needles.

the licker-i'n the ordinary card clothing with needles, whose straight conical form permits the complete removal of the packed material by the cleaning-cylinder as often as it is desired, and with a thoroughness which leaves nothing to be desired. The quality and regularity of the carded fleece are not at all impaired. XVith these needleeards placed upon the said cylinder, the men for cleaning the large cylinder are dispensed with, since no manual attention is necessary.

For insuring the greatest thoroughness in the result, the carding-needles in the large cylinder should be spaced more widely than the teeth of ordinary card-clothing; their projection beyond the cylinder should be only about four to five millimeters; they should be simply inclined, and should be without hook or bend, and they should taper considerably, that form assisting marvelous] yin the removal of the packed material without its being'necessary for the teeth of the cleanerroll to enter I would remark, also, that in the clothing composed of needles the teeth of the latter are not even visible with a strong lens, whereas in the ordinary clothing the so-called points are easily seen with the naked eye, and arein fact elliptical or rectangular surfaces, according as the iron wire is cylindrical or fiat. This last consideration shows that the carding action of the needles is infinitely superior to that of ordinary card teeth. A

All the organs of the carding-machine may be provided with needles instead of the ordinary cardclothing. In this case no sharpening will be necessary. Far from becoming dull by work, the needles preserve their fine points, and even become sharpened. The life of the needles will therefore be considerable, compared to that of the ordinary clothing.

The results which are or may be obtained by the present invention are, first, a carding constantly improving; second, alarge production, since it is no longer necessary to stop the cards to clean the teeth at the bottom; third,

economy in the attendance, the carding being effected entirely by automatieor mechanical means; fourth, with equal quality in the product, twice the quantity; fifth, with equality ofproduction, a product superior to that made by ordinary cards.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, one mode in which the invention is or may be applied is represented.

Figures 1 and 2 are side view and plan, respectively, of so much of a cottoncarding ma chine as is needful to explain the practical carrying outoftheinvention. Fig. 3 contains detail views (in different planes) of the needle clothing. Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of a mechanical belt-shipper employed in the machine for putting the cleaner-roll into and out of action; and Fig. 5 is a partial view in eleva tion, on an enlarged scale, of one of the needles, designed to show the conical or tapering form thereof; but it will be understood that the precise degree of taper is immaterial.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The machine shown comprises the frame A, the lap-delivery rollers a a, the grooved feeder B, the trough O, in which the feeder turns, thelickenin D, the large cylinder E, the top cards or flats, E, the do'ffer F, thedoffercomb G, the drawing-rolls H, the worker I, the clearer I for the worker I, the clearer-roll L for the large cylinder, the cylinder L for carding the cotton on the roll L and for returning it to the circulation by its contact with the large cylinder E, the belt-shipper M, and operating mechanism.

The licker-in D and the large cylinder E are provided each with rows of needles 1, Fig. 8, in place of the ordinary card-clothing. The needles are secured at equal distances apart in bars 2, (which bars maybe of lead with the needles soldered thereim) so as to form a series of combs, which are secured in grooves prepared for them in the peripheries of the cylinders. Each comb being placed in the appropriate groove is cemented therein by plaster or other similar material, 8, so thatthe needles project obliquely therefrom, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. These bars can be placed close together,or not so close-,and may be made fine, or not so fine, according to the material to be carded. The teeth on the cleaner-roll L are set with the needles on the main cylinder that is, the teeth as they pass the needles are projecting in the same direction as the said needles. The cleaner-roll revolves with the main cylinder, as indicated by the arrows.

- The top cards or flats, E, are or may be cleaned automatically by the mechanism in actual use. The cleaning-roll L is or may be provided with ordinary card-clothing.

The large cylinder E is provided at one end with the pulley J, fast on the shaft thereof, and also with a loose pulley alongside the same, and at the opposite end with the two fast pulleys J and R. The machine is driven by a belt on pulley J. A crossed belt, 5, on pulley R communicates motion to the licker-in D through the pulley R. A crossed belt, 6, on pulley J" communicates motion to the cone K,

through the pulley K and the shaft on which said pulley and cone are fastened, and a belt, 7, between the cone K and the cone K, coinmunicates motion to the cleaner-roll L, the cone K being fast on the shaft of said roll. The two cones are set in opposite directions, so that the cleaner-roll L is driven at a greater or less speed, according to the position of the belt 7. When the belt is at the larger end of the cone K and small end of the cone K, the rotation of the roll L should be such that the surface speed is atlea-st about one-fifth greater than that of the large cylinder,so as to remove the packed material from the large cylinder. When, however, the belt is shifted to the opposite ends of the cones, the surface speed of the roll L is smaller than that of the large cylinder E, and thelatter takes up the material which has not already been removed by the cylinder L. The beltis shipped from one end of the cones to the other by means of the beltshipper liLwhich is pivoted to the bracket N, and is actuated or controlled by the cam N, the said cam being fast on a shaft, 0, journaled in the bracket N, and driven by the bevel-gears OOfrom the shaft of the doffer F.

The stationary cross piece Q should be placed as near as possible to the worker I, in order to render more perfect the division of the filaments.

The worker I and its clearer I are or may be driven by the mechanism in ordinary use for driving the like parts. The roll L, as shown, is driven from the shaft of the worker I by a crossed belt, 8, on pulley L.

The cylinders D, E, L, and L ought to be ineased or provided with means of any ordinary or suitable kind at the lower part to prevent dispersion of the down or dust.

The operation is easy to understand. The lap or roll of cotton a is fed to the licker-in D, which draws the fiber, into the machine. This fiber is worked by the various cards and is mostly taken off by the doffer. The part not removed is cleaned from the needleteeth by the cleaner-roll L,- when the belt is properly shifted to giveit a greater speed. The material which it removes is carded by the cylinder L, which delivers it again to the large cylinder. The machine could be simplified by dispensing with the cylinder L, the cleaning-roll L being placed near the licker-in D, so that the latter would remove the material therefrom. The flats are working-cards as well as the worker I.

I do not restrict myself to any particular materials, proportions, and dimensions, nor to any particular arrangement of accessory parts, nor to other details, nor to any particular form or system of cards in carding-machines to which the invention may be applicable in whole or in part; but, on the contrary, I express] y reserve to myself the invention and the several parts thereof in all its forms and for all the uses to which it may be adapted.

a It may not be amiss also to observe that durng the cleaning of the main cylinder the feedmg of the material to the l'icker-in could be arrested in any ordinary or suitable way, and also that the invention is not restricted to operating mechanism whereby the cleaner is brought into action periodically by mechanical i'neansesuch as the cam N and gearing O O, for example.

I claim as my invention or discovery- 1. The combinatiomwith the series of working-cards and the doffer, of the large cylinder covered by said series of Working-cards and provided with the obliquely-projecting needles in place of the ordinary cardclothing, the cleaner-roll having its teeth set with the said needles, and the mechanism whereby during the cleaning operation the said cleaner-roll is revolved with the main cylinder at a greater speed, substantially as described.

2. The combinati011,with the series of work- MICHEL DESCARDS.

Witnesses:

J. W. HANOHARD MEREAU, EMILE LU'rz. 

